Summer in Europe Part III: Ireland

Two weeks after arriving back in Frankfurt and just after we'd settled back in, it was time to pack our tiny Ryanair-approved bags and head off to Ireland for a good friend's wedding. After finding that flights to Dublin (where the wedding was) were about 200 euros more expensive than Kerry, we decided to head to Kerry, see some Irish greenery, then hire a car and drive across the country to Dublin for a night of beer and jigs before heading to the wedding on the Sunday.

With only the option of manual cars (unless you are happy to pay double) we had a tough decision to make - who will learn quicker, the boy on the wrong side of the road (for him) or me in a car where i can't just push the gear to 'D' for the first time in my life?! We decided on the former. A few pull-ins to discuss the road rules and a small clipping of another car later - no damage to either of us luckily - he seemed to get the hang of it. And despite the windy roads our car proved to be very easy to get around in.

One of the weirdest things about being in Ireland for me was the fact that everyone spoke English. Seeing signs and understanding them, being able to order food without feeling slightly embarrassed and asking complex questions are things which I'm now totally used to not being able to do. It was like the radio was tuned into my station for a couple of days and no longer on white noise! As I learn more German I understand more but the effort is sometimes so tiring. To walk into a chemist, find the isle with what I wanted easily and pay without question felt like a nice emotional break.

But back to Ireland - we started in Kerry staying at a lovely bed and breakfast that served pancakes for breakfast. The boy's experience of British food (I know we were in Ireland but the food is very similar) is particularly limited, so the first meal we went for was a roast. Delicious. Then we trekked to the Gap of Dunloe and went on a 2 hour walk interrupted by rain, but it was well worth it to get wet for the views.

Gap of Dunloe - Kerry

Having been in Frankfurt and two very summery holiday destinations, I'd forgotten my umbrella and the clothes that are generally appropriate for British (and surroundings) weather. As a result, when I say we got wet, we were drenched. It was a nice reminder though that while I might not be able to understand the street signs in Germany, at least for me now a summer is a summer and the sky doesn't look like the above :)

We made a quick dash before the sun went down through the national park to see a castle and although it was smaller than the ones I was used to it was equally beautiful and so quintessentially Irish.

Kerry National Park

A quick 3km walk to the castle capped off the perfect day in Kerry

So after a night checking out the local pubs in Kerry - when ordering a shepherds pie with a side of chips the boy commented 'they really eat a lot of potatoes here don't they? - we headed off early in the morning to Dublin. Meeting up with some of my oldest and closest friends was great, and though we had planned to spend the afternoon sight-seeing the only sight-seeing we ended up doing was the inside of pubs at Temple Bar. A cocktail here, a Bulmers Irish Cider there, a wine in the next place, and by the end of the night I was just drunk enough to not be too bothered by the awful over-priced Hostel we were staying at.

The morning saw us busily ironing and getting ready in said awful-hostel - which isn't easy when you're attempting to look wedding-style perfect surrounded by backpackers drinking cans of beer at 9am. The drive to the church wasn't too long and then when we arrived at the reception and checked into our hotel, it was so much better than we ever imagined. This wedding was in the most romantic and intimate Irish castle I'd seen.

The reception venue - perfect

It was a big night which involved a few trips to our room for top-ups of alcohol and by the end of it we were the only ones left on the dance floor, and singing Australian football songs with the groom's grandmother at 3 in the morning. It was the perfect day and as we fell into bed we were not looking forward to getting up and making the four hour drive back to Kerry airport the next day.

The drive was long and filled with hangover pangs and the dash to the plane was even more difficult, but as we were bumped back onto the Ryanair plane I felt pretty grateful to my boyfriend for being willing to drive across a country - and back - in order to go to a wedding where he wouldn't understand all of the language and meet a lot of people for the first time. It was a pretty big thing to do, particularly on the back of a very expensive holiday across Croatia and Hungary. So thanks Ireland, for strangely enough, making a little atheist like me feel pretty blessed.

xx